Tag the Jack
by Reus-poetry
Summary: "Come and get us if you can, Sakura." That was just an open invitation to a war. And somehow, looking at Mikan's darkened expression, and the consequence of the silence which was held around her, Tobita Yuu was positive that it was not gonna be pretty. Natsume Hyuuga had gone one step too far this time.Rated M cause of swearing, violence and 'maybe' lemon. On a never-ending Hiatus.
1. Notes and All

_Don't expect normalcy from this story._

 _And definitely don't expect a **submissive** , **clumsy** , **dumb** Mikan._

 _Cause the women in my story are headstrong and down right feminists,_

 _they ain't gonna wait for a man to rescue them,_

 _I'm sorry if you thought they were gonna be hiding behind a man._

 _And there are gonna be grammatical errors,_

 _Please bring them under my notice though if you happen to find them,_

 _Yeah, I guess that's about it._

 _If you agree with all of the above , please continue._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Author._


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi. Always has and always will.

Author's note: No seriously, apart from warning you about the random swear words , I got no clue what to tell you readers.

* * *

 **L'amour est une rose. Chaque pétale une illusion. Chaque épine une réalité**

 _Love is like a rose. Every petal an illusion. Every thorn a reality._

* * *

 _Chapter 1- Running from reality._

Someone wise once said that Love is the most dangerous emotion a human could ever feel. And a few years back , Mikan Sakura would disagree with the statement but now...she seemed to have no problem with was true. Love is dangerous. And she couldn't deny that because she had her fair share of experience in that field.

Love had the power to change people, drastically. And not always in the good way.

She used to be happy, used to have a good time with her friends, used to dream and have issues like a normal teenager, but things change,people change, mostly due to circumstances, so she changed too, her circumstance? Love.

But none of that could explain why she was at the coast of Okinawa, sitting lazily in restaurant away by the shoreline of Mibaru beach, she breathed in life as the salty smell of the beach hit her and a breezy wind flew past her tail bone long auburn hair.

"Hey Mikan, enjoying the breeze are we?" Ryusei, a man in mid-fifties who owned the restaurant asked.

"Yeah, sorry for slacking off." Mikan giggled an apology.

"Nonsense." Ryusei waved off in thick air. "You're the reason my restaurant even came into existence."

"Not really. It was both of our efforts. You can't hold me responsible for what we both have done, Uncle Ryu." Mikan smiled as another customer came and she grabbed a menu off the table.

" What would this old man even be capable of doing in mid- fifties? Had you not appeared like an angel three years ago. I would have died." He plainly stated with a blank face.

"Firstly, Uncle, that's exaggeration! Secondly, I think it's the other way round because as far as I remember it was you who took me, a mere stranger in, so it makes you the angel." She said as she took the order of the customer and passed it onto the chef.

"Mikan." Ryusei's tone suggested her to look at him. " You've still not told me the reason why you came to Okinawa."

Mikan stiffened at the statement, she clenched her teeth but still managed to smile as she replied, "Because I wanted to settle down.

"Mikan. Child, you know you can't lie to me. The why try?" Ryusei sighed, as he passed on the plate of the ordered dish to her.

Mikan pretended as if she didn't hear what he said and continued to serve the customers.

To her delight and Ryusei ' s chagrin, a large group of students entered, laughing on a recently cracked joke and Mikan made herself busy with them.

Ryusei narrowed his ashen black eyes at the brunette and shook his head, knowing that she would evade the topic like the plague. Again. He went inside the kitchen where his wife, the chef was cooking.

Mikan craned her neck to trying to catch the sight of the black haired man, and when she didn't, she let out a breath of relief.

She knew that Uncle Ryusei knew that she wasn't in Okinawa to settle down. Hell! Even she knew that. In fact, it was far from settling down.

She was _hiding_.

Mikan was hiding and running away from her life. Three years ago, she took a one way ticket to Okinawa, hoping never to set foot again in Tokyo.

She loathed that place. Everything bad had happened there. And it scarred her for life. And one day, she bought a ticket to Okinawa, and just flew down here impulsively because everything in her life had grown toxic at that point. And that was probably the only time she thanked her stars for being impulsive.

So she ran away, which Mikan agreed was cowardly of her. But if caring for herself meant an act of a coward. Then so be it.

She left everything in Tokyo, her friends, family,memories and decided to start out fresh and Okinawa was just a pleasing option. But then she fainted and suddenly found herself inside the small but humble abode of Mr. Ryusei Suzuki and his wife who kindly took care of her. She swore she'd repay them and the restaurant was the result of that. Yet , Mikan knew that whatever they had done for her couldn't be measured, even in leaps and bounds

" I want a Tenmasu please." Mikan snapped out of her day dream and stared at the bright red-haired woman.

"Yes, Madam. Anything to go with it?" She inquired politely and the woman shook her head.

Mikan bowed her head and excused herself while promising that the dish would arrive in some time.

Tonight , the infamous fireworks of the Annual Mibaru festival would start. And Mikan tried hard not to be all jittery about it.

But there was something about seeing the colourful lights in the sky which made her feel like a child.

"Mikan. Mikan. Where is that girl? Didn't she want to watch the lights?" Ryusei questioned, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh! She told me that she'll be going to the Old Bernacle's to watch it ." His wife promptly answered to him as she slid her around his.  
" And she requested you not to follow her there." she added, grinning widely when Ryusei winced.

"She'll be okay,Ryu." His wife smiled at him.

"I hope too, Ayano . I hope too." He resigned himself to sit beside his wife and watch the wonderful display of light and fireworks in the sky.

Mikan gently sat down at the balcony of the light house, it was named Old Bernacle's for no apparent reason but it suited it.

She stared at the skies as they lit up making her feel thrilled, she loved the way a fire cracker could light up the darkness which sky held close itself. It's beautiful.

Slipping into deep thought, Mikan knew one thing, someday she would be dragged to her old life by the neck, forced to face the music and cradle her worst fears.

However, that day hadn't arrived as of yet.

She was safe, Mikan was sure of that, she wasn't sure how long that would last.

Looking at the navy blue skies, she smiled again as they boomed with pure white light.

Yeah. She was safe. For now.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in Tokyo._

A shaggy brown haired man with slightly tanned skin found his safe haven behind a closed convenient store. He gripped his right arm where blood was oozing out. He had been shot. A bullet had lodged itself on the upper end of his elbow. He winced visibly but knew better than making noise.

"Fuck." He cussed quietly. Apparently, the man was hiding. From whom? He had no clue. He was just having a nice day in his high top campervan. But he grew suspicious when he noticed men following him.

People never followed for random reasons in Tokyo. This meant two things, one, it was a warning or two, he was being hunted. Or in his case maybe both.

And then he tried starting the vehicle but remembered he didn't fill the petrol and then inwardly cursed himself. So he ran for his life like he had a tail between his legs, and while doing so he got shot. It must have hit a bone because he felt like his elbow was gonna come off any second now.

He looked again in discreet and found that he lost them but for extra protection sakes he climbed up a random building to its terrace and stayed there until he was assured that they had given up.

He made his down but when he did, he felt something move around the corner. _Shit_! He was greeted with a thwarting hit on his neck mostly from a baseball bat.

He fell to the ground while he coughed blood. "You've been summoned." A calm and refined voice spoke.

 _I know that voice._ The man on the floor turned his line of vision to look at the source of the voice. He widened his eyes in pure shock.

"No fucking way."

"What a crass was to greet people, Kit."

"Don't call me that!" The man, Kit snapped at the other male. "You lost that right long ago."

The other male who seemed like he was in a tuxedo sighed and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Listen Kit, it's been three years. Why don't you just give up already?" The male questioned Kit who was lying on the ground on his back.

"Fuck off, bastard. It's been three years and you and _your_ Master still won't give up?" He reiterated mockingly while laying emphasis on 'Master'.

"Kit." the tone of the man seemed dangerous and hinted that Kit should probably back off and do whatever he was told to but he was an upright rebel. And it would go against his cause to not retaliate against something he disliked.

Kit chuckled and stuck his middle finger at the man in front of him. "Eat my shorts."

"Kit."

"Why? I haven't done any damn thing the past three years since she left. Why the hell is he sending his men now?"

"Kit. I already told you. You've been summoned by him." Kit felt like he was losing his conscious and kept struggling to keep up.

"I ain't no dog of his to be summoned. Besides, for what reason did the son-of-a -motherfucking - bitch summon me for?" Kit barked as the man visibly flinched at the use of the vulgar language.

Kit was losing his vision and before darkness engulfed him he heard the words the other man spoke,

"You'll bring her back."

 _ **TBC**_

* * *

 _Thanks for reading, cause honestly you have no clue how much this mean to me._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Author._


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi. Always has and always will.

* * *

 ** _J'entends ta voix dans tous les bruits du monde_**

 _I hear your voice in all of the world's noise._

* * *

 _Chapter 2- Going back to my Roots_

Sundays was something Mikan genuinely liked, she liked going to church, visiting the orphanage, taking a trip to the Art Gallery downtown and in the end of the day, there would be a small bonfire where her, Uncle Ryusei and his wife and a few friends would sit around the warm fire and share various experiences about life and stealth in general. And later in the night, she would either walk along the seashore to Old Bernacle's and drink herself a nice bottle of whiskey and beer or sleep.

Yes, Sunday was definitely something nice to look forward to. It may seem boring but it made her happy and free.

She let her hair down which had previously been tied to a tight bun. When she had firstly arrived in Okinawaw, she disliked everything about the place and that nothing really could compare to the city lights of Tokyo but the more she stayed, the more she grew rooted to this place.

She could almost call it home. Almost.

But that posed quite a problem since Mikan knew that someday, she would have to leave this place , and for that she wasn't ready. Her roots lay deep in Tokyo after all.

"Mikan, don't you have a story to share sweetheart?" an old man, Uncle Ryusei's friend she realized had cause her to snap her out of the day dream she was in.

"No, not really Sir." She smiled.

"You are really pretty my child, what use if a man doesn't have a woman like you by their side?" He chuckled while Uncle Ryusei nodded his head vigorously.

"I keep telling her that I could make her meet a few eligible men I know of, for an example, Hanata, who lives-" Uncle Ryusei was promptly interrupted by his wife. "-Now, now Ryu, stop forcing the young girl. You never even bothered to ask if she even has a man in her heart." She said, arching a brow towards Mikan.

"So you do?" Uncle Ryusei asked, and suddenly everyone, young and old, sitting around the bonfire had their eyes fixed at Mikan.

Mikan sweatdropped, wondering how the course of their conversation reached the point where her love life was centered.

"Eh? Uhh well, I'm not sure I could say that there is but-"

"So there is!" a random woman declared as Mikan visibly twitched.

"So how does he look like? What is he like?" someone asked again.

"Uhm ...he can't go to bed without a cup of black tea, he's extremely tempremental but he has his own perks. Used to." She giggled remembering the old times.

"So when are you getting married? How many children do you plan for?" someone asked again.

Eh? Mikan thought as the questions went out of hand. Kami-samaa! Someone help me. She prayed to whatever forced watching her.

As if on cue, her phone started ringing, she sent a prayer again, of gratitude this time. Mikan excused herself and walked to the shoreline then picked up the call.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end spoke, Mikan furrowed her eyebrows, half in recognition and half in confusion.

"Tsubasa?"

"Mikan, I understand that you warned me never to call on this number but..."

"Tsubasa, what's wrong?" She glanced at the small group around the fire while her voice emitted concern.

"There is a ..technical problem."

"Tsubasa."

"More like a small technical problem."

"Tsubasa."

"But actually it doesn't really-" He went about talking.

"Tsubasa!" She exclaimed with an ounce of her voice reflecting her patience was running thin.

"it's about Kit." The man named Tsubasa sighed.

"What's up with Kit?"

"Well, he's hurt. Badly." His reply shocked her, she disconnected the call without another word.

Mikan quickly went to Uncle Ryusei, demanding a moment with him.

"Mikan, what's wro-"

"Uncle Ryu, I need to go back to Tokyo." As soon as the words slipped past her lips, the old man in front of her took a deep breath.

"Go."

That surprised Mikan, she expected him to ask for an explanation, a reason, anything except for just a a single word reply.

"Excuse me?"

"Mikan, child, running away from reality never helps you conquer it." He patted Mikan's head,  
she smiled wistfully.

"Go. You need to." Ryusei adviced with a gentle chuckle.

"Thank you. For everything. Thank you so very much." She expressed her gratitude as she hugged the man who was more of a Dad than just her boss.

Mikan promised she would visit whenever time permitted. She began packing her clothes, anything which she needed which weren't much at all.

Mikan knew it was time she returned and she couldn't run away from this , even if she tried.

Which she didn't want to. After all Kit was family, she needed to go back to him. As soon as possible.

* * *

Tsubasa Andou didn't often feel scared. In his 22 year of existence,he never felt afraid. It was foreign to him. But when he got a call from a local hospital that someone named 'Kit' had been admitted, needless to say, he flipped. And boy did he flip.

Not knowing what to do, under his impulsive decision he called Mikan, he knew she would tear down mountains if she had to , just to be by Kit's side.

It had been 3 years since she had left. And at first, it was difficult to tolerate the post- trauma, but he and the others made it through. But now, out of the blue this happens. It was unnerving. The whole idea of this being a start for something uncalled for made Tsubasa queasy.

He spared a glance towards Kit's unconscious body wrapped in bandages with an I.V. Attached to his forearm.

Tsubasa ran a hand through his thick Jet black hair. Nothing made sense right now. Who attacked Kit? And why? They had been quietly living off without attracting attention. What could anybody possibly gain from attacking Kit? He was an asshole, sure thing, but that was about it.

"Tsubasa." Someone said whilst putting a hand on his tense shoulder.

"Luna." He acknowledged.

"It's gonna be alright, why don't you get some rest while I watch over him instead?" The pinkette thoughtfully suggested and before Tsubasa could retaliate, she shot him a glare to which he simply shrugged and walked out of the hospital room.

Luna quietly sat down next to Kit and put her hand on his, "You really scared me bad you know, dummy. Get well soon, after all.." she patted Kit's head. "You need to beat up the people who did this to you."

* * *

 _Nostalgia_.

The first thing she felt when she stepped inside Haneda Airport was nostalgia and Mikan didn't like it one bit.

At 4 in the morning, Mikan suddenly regretted wearing a cold shoulder top with skinny jeans when she felt a cold layer hit her exposed skin.

She sneezed.

Great. She was at an airport , with a horrible case of jetlag, a hungry stomach and possibly an annoying cold. The Gods must really hate her.

It was ironic. Three years ago, she swore on everything holy that she would never step in Tokyo again.

But at that point, Mikan Sakura realized that life had a way of proving you wrong in the most outright way possible.

And that was plainly annoying.

She sighed as she hailed a taxi to the local hospital. Mikan was tired, nervous and was flushing in with several over powering feelings, at the moment she decided to just stay put until the hospital came along which it eventually did. She paid the taxi-man and went to the reception to inquire which room Kit was put in.

Mikan dragged her suitcase to the room, and chided herself for being impulsive. When Tsubasa said Kit was hurt badly, she instinctively assumed the worse. And Kit was family to her. Which is why she didn't have second thoughts about returning to Japan.

She softly knocked on the door and when no body answered it, she opened the door herself and looked around until she found Kit lying onthe hospital bed (which he probably hated to be on)

Mikan widened her eyes, when Tsubasa said bad, she didn't think it was this bad. She left her bag at the corner. And quickly went to his side, almost tripping along way.

"Careful now." a voice warned. "Luna!' Mikan beamed with a bright smile and ran over to hug her.

"...Can't...air...breathe..." Luna managed speak, and that was probably the only reason Mikan even loosened her grip around the pink haired woman.

And as if almost immediately, Mikan's expression clouded, she indicated towards Kit who was lying on the bed unconsciously and probably without a care of the world, Luna merely nodded in understanding. "It was bad Mikan. In the dead of the night Tsubasa literally got a call from the local hospital saying that Tsubasa's number was by whom the most recent call was made. And when he reaches the hospital, he finds ol' Kit in a damn critical condition. He panicked. I have never seen him that way Mikan. The only time he acted that way was when you and _that_ person left." She said, though her voice seemed fine, Mikan was sure that Luna and everyone else were probably scared out of their wits.

"But now you're back." Luna administered. "And since you're back , everything is gonna be okay." She smiled grateful and Mikan suddenly felt immense guilt which she pushed away to the back of her mind.

"Alright, but how are you keeping?" Mikan asked, genuinely happy see her.

"I'm fine. But you look radiant." The pinkette pointed out with a coy grin. "Yeah, well, peaceful surroundings does that to people." Mikan shrugged happily.

"You look pretty happy for someone who leaves her family without a reason." Someone jeered rudely.

Mikan shifted her gaze towards the person lying on the hospital bed. "Kitsuneme." she called him out by his full name at which he evidently winced. Kit disliked being called by his full name, it just made him way more innocent than he was.

"I'll leave you both alone then." Luna said and made her walk to the door.

"By that I hope you don't mean that you'll stay near the door and 'accidentally overhear' our conversation." Kit (short for Kitsuneme) scoffed at which Luna stuck her tongue out childishly.

Mikan felt as if she was missing something out on something rather important. Nevermind , she would just have to ask about that to Luna later.

Once alone, she stared at Kitsuneme with her honey colored orbs. "Hey."

...

...

...

"Three years and the best thing you can say is Hey ?" He glared at her through his slant eyes.

"I can't say that I'm sorry. I would be lying. I needed a break, Kit." She bit her lip, hoping he'd understand. He did. But there was no way in hell he'd let her know that, he was not going to pretend that her leaving him stranded did not affect him because it had. Pretty effectively.

"But..." Mikan continued narrowing her eyes."None of that explains why you're lying all wrapped up in white on a damned hospital bed."

Kitsuneme looked away, trying to avoid the question like his life depended on it.

"Who was it, Kit? Who had the audacity to-"

"I had been summoned." Kitsuneme coaxed out while swallowing hard a  
second later.

"Summoned?" Mikan asked incredulously, being summoned meant that you had to answer the call of a higher authority and you had to obey their command reluctantly or not. This did not really sit well with Mikan because Kit was a part of the family, and no one could really summon unless ot was Mikan , herself. "And pray tell me for what?"

"To bring you back. And looks like it worked like a charm." Kitsuneme answered, pointedly indicating to the place where she was standing.

To say that Mikan was shocked would be the understatement of the century.

"And who did this to you?" Mikan questioned sharply with a tone that could scar, she knew the answer but she asked Kitsuneme for affirmation.

See, this is the part he didn't wanna tell, partly because the reaction and response could be vigorous as fuck and _he_ on the other hand had _**no**_ clue about it.

"Kit." She alerted, a sharp tone to edges of her voice. "The name."

" _Nogi_. Ruka Nogi." He finally resigned, closing his eyes in anticipation of the storm which was about to break out.

 _ **TBC**_


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi. Always has and always will.

* * *

 ** _Le temps est un grand maître, dit-on. Le malheur est qui'il tue ses éléves_**

 _We say that time is a great teacher. Too bad it kills all its students_.

* * *

 _Chapter 3- A new member._

If there was one word to describe the atmosphere of East Tokyo, presently then..

It would be _chaotic_.

Pure chaos.

East Tokyo wasn't a place you'd wanna go alone. For people who knew it through and thorough, it could be home or paradise but for the ones who didn't know these streets , they would be targeted and they wouldn't even know it. Everything illegal happened here, illegal car racing, fights, vandalizing properties, drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, escorts, illegal selling of arms, you name it and it happened here.

On the western end of East Tokyo stood tall a building probably from the 80's but it was well-maintained, recently painted.

Inside the building were a few tables, systematically arranged and the biggest and most illegal speakeasy the setting sun might have seen or otherwise known as the residing place of the current most powerful gang in the whole of Japan, _The Jacksons_. And boy, was it crowded?

The place was bursting at the seams with people jostling in every now and then. At the highest floor of the club stood near the railing, a man in a black casual suit with the first three buttons of his crisp white formal shirt undone.

He torched his cigarette with his trademark classical red lighter with the number "3" imprinted on it. To put it blatantly, he was annoyed that his friend was late cause his fiance had better work for him.

"Hyuuga." his ears quirked as he heard his name called.

"About damn time you grace me with your presence." He replied as he turned to see his bestfriend's fiance with her usual stoic expression.

"We had work." Ruka defended in pretence trying to sound atleast convincing.

"Yeah right, sure I believe you." He rolled his crimson eyes with an edge of derision to his voice.

"Believe it. Cause we've got news, Natsume." The amythyst eyed girl with pale white skin coldly that he rose an eyebrow, Hotaru Imai would never call him by his first name even if her life depended on it because calling a person by their first name in this business meant establishing familiarity. And she just thought of Natsume Hyuuga as a "disturbingly conceited man". Her words legit.

"What is it, Ruka?" He questioned his close friend, Ruka, a blonde haired man with strikingly calm, cerulean blue eyes as they sat down with him.

"It worked like a charm." Hotaru answered for her fiance. "You were right about Andou knowing the whereabouts of Sakura. And the moment Kitsuneme was taken into the local hospital, Andou called Sakura, within a matter of hours Sakura arrived at Haneda airport." Ruka continued sipping on his white wine.

Natsume smirked. Finally, after three years he had managed to rat. Mikan out from wherever the hell she was hiding, how dare she try to hide from him? Didn't she know already that it was useless? He'd always drag her out , by the hair if he had to.

Natsume Hyuuga is known a heartless bastard because he had sold his heart to a bitch like her and somehow, it still remained with her much to his utter chagrin and he hated her for that, he hated her for everything, , he hated her to that point that he no longer needed a reason to do 'Anything' against her.

He was the leader of the most powerful gang The Jacksons, ruling in Tokyo. Ruka and Hotaru were both members of his gang which he had but from a scratch. He was orphaned from a young age , he was left to fend for himself with nothing but a Taurus judge and two bullets,he had a past maybe that's why he was deemed so ruthless until he met her, okay , maybe he softened up a little. A little bit. But now things had changed, he wanted nothing more than punish her.

Punish her for running away from him.

Punish her for hiding from him.

But above all,

Punish her for staying away from him in the most cowardly means possible.

"Hyuuga, as much as I dislike your face I still need to talk to you, so could you spare your undivided attention to this conversation?"Hotaru snapped, exasperation evident in her amythyst gaze.

Hotaru was probably the only one who had it in her to talk like that apart from Sakura and he liked to keep it that way.

"Continue."

"What's the next plan?" Ruka asked.

Natsume chuckled deeply making Hotaru simper delightfully and Ruka alert. Whatever that was planted in his head was not good. And they didn't need any assurity for that, it was apparent in his tantalizing crimson orbs.

Natsume Hyuuga had a plan.

And it was every bit of bad, the word could sum up to.

* * *

She was flabbergasted.

No really .

 _She was._

It had been a day since she returned from Okinawa, and she already missed it. But she felt like she was back where she was supposed to be so she guessed that was fine too. Mikan was back in her old room.

Everything was the same about this place, the bar, the restaurant, her friends. Everyone had remained the same. Though all of them have been more than ecstatic on her return.

When she had got to know that Ruka of all people was responsible for Kitsuneme, she was close to picking her arms up and ready to feed her knives with blood before Anna, a pink -haired woman who was with her since high school made her sit down and go through things calmly and with an intellectual thought.

Even though Tsubasa, Kitsuneme,Luna and the rest of them weren't a gang, they were,are, will always remain to be Mikan's responsibility, they looked up at her as a leader and their head, and they would listen only to her. Gang or not. Ruka would have been killed in the most brutal way possible had Anna not hastily stopped Mikan.

Mikan clenched her teeth tightly as she remembered Anna's words, as much as she hated to admit it, had sense in them.

"Mikan. We all are just as angry as you are for Kit but, Ruka Nogi,is a member of a Gang, a vicious one at that." At this point Mikan arrogantly snorted. "You know the codes better, Mik. Hurt a member and you have literally hurled the pride of the entire gang. We cannot afford what we've built up so far crumble down. We cannot be involved with gangs. Not anymore we can't."

"So we give up because we are weak?" Mikan snapped with narrowed eyes and piercing tone.

"No. We hold on because we're strong." Anna corrected patiently.

Mikan rolled her eyes. No one could really go against Anna because firstly, she is way too convincing for life. Secondly, she usually has a sensible point to whatever she's talking about, thirdly, her strawberry cookies are amazing. Mikan sighed, she had been doing that a lot these days. Three years had been a lot since that incident and boy, was everyone happy to see her home, not like she wasn't but something about knowing that something bad is gonna happen again was evident in the ajr, and that made her nervous and anxious.

But leaving everything aside Mikan glad that the club was in one piece now. It's destruction was partly the reason she left. She looked around fondly, Tsubasa and Kitsuneme had done an excellent job at rebuilding and she honestly, had to appreciate and thank them for it. But looking at it now, she realized that Anna was right(when  
had she not been anyways?) She couldn't let all of this to crumble down, she would hold on for now.

Yuu Tobita smiled as he saw the brunette, he was just glad that she was back like everyone else had been. "Who's she?" the question made him shake his gaze from Mikan.

"Yes?" He looked towards bleached blonde haired boy, who looked like he was fresh out of high school.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself." The boy quickly apologized." My name is Hoshino Hoshio, I'm the waiter here."

"Oh. Oh yeah right. Tsubasa mentioned." Yuu remembered a certain Tsubasa saying something about having met a boy who was in need of work and had the determination to learn.

"I'm Yuu. Yuu Tobita. Part-time bartender and waiter. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself with a bright smile to which Hoshino nodded eagerly.

"Well, she is Mikan Sakura. You could say she's the owner of this club." Yuu replied to Hoshin's earlier question.

"But how come I didn't see her during the past week?" He curiously piped up.

"Uh, didn't anyone inform you of what had happened?" Yuu probed nervously looking around if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"No. Not really ." Hoshino answered truthfully, which made Yuu take a sharp intake of air.

"Alright then long story short. Tokyo is divided into factions ruled by gangs. The most powerful one resides in the East of Tokyo, where everything illegal happens, drugs, illegal arms, you name it."

"Okay?" Hoshino nodded his head in perfect apprehension.

"It happened so that once the leader of the gang and Mikan over there were in love. But something happened three years ago, nobody knows what but now they hate eachother to the depth of hell and back."

"Oh ...that's sad."

"Story doesn't end there. The was a fight after that and that caused this club to crumble down to mere debris. And Mikan couldn't bear that, after she was orphaned due to her parents dying in a car crash, this club was all she had left of theirs." Yuu's chocolate eyes softened as he continued talking. "Mikan couldn't bear the thought of everything that her parents built spiraling down. I guess at that point she couldn't bear how her life had become which is why one night, she vanished without a trace. She left to god-knows-where but that's unnecessary now that she's back."

"Why do you like her soo much then?" Hoshino quirked his brows to meet Yuu's eyes.

"Coz that bitch is our Cap'n. Leader. Whatever you willin' to call it." A rough voice replied which made both Hoshino and Yuu to look it's way to find Luna lazily sitting on the bar.

"Just from how long were you eavesdropping?"Yuu asked her.

"I didn't eavesdrop, I accidentally overheard." She retorted. " 'sides that, I was here from the beginning of the conversation." She chortled a laugh when she saw Yuu's jaw hit the ground. Luna bit off the cork from a bottle of hard liquor and began drinking from it and coincidentally Anna came over to the bar at that moment.

"Luna, you should stop drinking that much." Anna mused with genuine concern visible in her voice.

Tsubasa joined them and frowned when he saw a bottle in Luna's hand. "Damn woman. It's still mid-noon." He scolded as Luna took his opinion with a grain of salt.

"So basically..." Luna directed her sentence towards Hoshino. "That A-class bitch took us in, you could say she adopted us ya know?"

"Took you in? Whaddya mean?" Hoshino pouted as he didn't understand.

"Tsubasa Andou ov'r here was a street dancer, literally used to dance his life away. Mikan took him in, made him a dance performer at the weekend shows at the bar." Luna pointed out as Tsubasa nodded as if he was remembering the moments all over again.

"Anna was literally thrown off to the streets with not a penny in them pockets. She would be traded as a sex slave had Mikan not stepped in the right time and saved her from that mishap." At which Anna winced while Yuu clasped her hand and comforted her wordlessly.

"I am a hooker." Luna confessed rather proudly. "Someone with no status what-damn-soever. That bitch gave a slut like me respect." She bit out as she took another gulp of her drink.

"Luna, don't be so hard on yourself." Tsubasa ruffled her hair.

"We've been this way since 13, most people ya see ov'r here were jobless or homeless, or both. She gave us a home to come back to." And then Luna toned her voice down to a whisper. "Even when the worst things in life came _free_ to us...she _still_ gave us a home to come back to expecting nothin' in return."

"Can't deny that , can we?" Tsubasa grinned whole-heartedly while a wave of smiles went by everyone.

"Can't deny what?" Mikan asked, arching a brow with a questionable look.

"Nothing sour puss. Oh wait, no, I got a better one. Nothing Ms. I-run-away-from-everything!" Luna simpered evily as a vein popped out on Mikan's forehead.

"That's it, woman. You're going down on my hands." Mikan said, rolling her sleeves up.

"Shit." Luna cussed as she broke into a run with Mikan hot on her heels. "Get back here you demon-woman!"

This scene looked normal, since Tsubasa shook his head and everyone else just smiled and went back to doing their own work. Everything felt like it was back to normal to Yuu, this was how things were three years ago, and he was glad that everything was going back to how it was.

Mikan had helped Yuu a long time back, he, Tsubasa, Kit and Luna had been with Mikan for a period longer than the others, back then he was into drugs and was almost busted in a drug racket and if not for Mikan, he'd probably still be in jail. Mikan probably held a penchant to help people like him. There was just something about that woman, the way how she fiercely protected the people she loved and stood up for what she thought was right regardless of the crap anyone told her yet she was gentle, and that made people in general to do anything for her not because they owed a debt to her which they did , but because she was Mikan Sakura, and they felt honoured to be commadeered by a person like her.

"Listen though, I still have a question." Hoshino uttered quietly to Yuu, breaking his chain of thoughts for the second time in the hour.

"What is it?"

"That gang leader Miss. Mikan fell in love with? What was his name?"

The expression on Yuu's face darkened as his eyes wore a grim gaze and his lips twitched in disgust.

"We don't take his name here. But I shall amend a code since you're a newbie." Listening to that Hoshino swallowed, Yuu seemed to be the most decent one out of the whole lot, and if he disliked that man soo much then the guy must have honestly fucked it up bad.

"His name was Natsume. Natsume Hyuuga."

 _ **TBC**_


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi. Always has and always will.

Author's note: This chapter is shorter than the usuals, and I know I have probably OC'ed Mikan and Natsume, but please give them time to sink into their characters

* * *

 ** _À goupil endormi rien ne tombe en la gueule._**

 _A closed mouth catches no flies._

* * *

 _Chapter 4- Introductions,drinks and war._

 ** _A week later,_**

"I'm Hoshino Hoshio." the blonde introduced himself, putting forward his hand when Anna made Mikan meet him.

Mikan beamed and readily shook his hand with her warm on. "Mikan Sakura at your service, if you have any issues related to this place or not, I'll solve 'em." She grinned widely.

"I-It's good to meet you , Miss Sakura." Hoshino uttered, taken aback from her radiant aura.

"Miss Sakura? Man, that's the most respect I've received. Na-da ." She waved her hand dismissively." Call me Mik or Mikan. Sounds more like what my people would call me." She giggled.

"Your people?"

"Yeah, you're a member of this wild house, ain't ya?" Mikan asked, nudging her head to the side, directing towards the club.

"Yes, yes I am."

"So you're a part of us too. Doesn't sound like much but I guess that's enough, ain't it?"

And if Hoshino didn't already feel like he was home, Mikan just welcomed him more into the idea.

He liked this feeling. He didn't really have a home for a long time, let alone a family to come back to and suddenly he was thrown into a crowd of loud, boisterous and _**terribly**_ , **terribly** , _terribly_ mannered people...but that was okay.

These people accepted him for whatever of a misfit and outcast he was and probably is. And that was enough.

"Oh Mik, looks like you met my boy, Hoshino." Tsubasa slung his arm around Hoshino in a careless manner with a lopsided smirk plastered to his face.

"Yep." Mikan replied with a smile." Where'd you even pick him up from?"

"Oh now that's a good story to tell."

"What is?" Kitsuneme had joint their conversation.

"How I met the newest addition to our family, Hoshino." Tsubasa introduced to him.

"Oh. Hey. Kitsuneme, the manager of this Shit hole." the slant-eyed man saluted and the obscenity he used last earned him a thwack from Mikan who scolded him. But Hoshino already knew him, Yuu had introduced him to everyone and he had mentioned a boy named Kitsuneme, A.K.A. Kit.

"I met him three times before the fourth time when I decided to drag him here. And you'd be surprised coz all the three times I found him, he was crying, and it would magically begin to rain. Every Damn time." Tsubasa ruffled Hoshino's blonde hair to mess his usual style.

"Crying? Why though?" Kitsuneme furrowed his brows while Mikan nodded to his question as if she had the same thought.

"Uh.." Hoshino bit his lip, he didn't want to say it but Mikan, Kitsuneme and Tsubasa did not take any hint of that, at the end of which he resigned.

"I was bullied." He splattered out at once. "Because I was weak."

Mikan gasped as Kistuneme narrowed his eyes to slits while Tsubasa gaped."You were what?" Thy asked in unison.

Now, he was scared. What if they abandoned him? What if they threw him out like his parents did? He gulped hard at those questions rising in his head.

"I couldn't fight or play games like the normal boys did. I was a nerd, therefore, I was bullied." He said, closing his eyes expectantly waiting for a hit, which never really came.

Instead, he was pulled into an embrace, as two arms enveloped him into a hug, "It's okay." a voice said to him. "You're okay, thank god you're okay."

It took Hoshino a while to figure out that Mikan was the one who hugged him.

" Most people would give up if they would be bullied. But here you are, standing strong as ever." Mikan gave him a smile, which he guessed was the brightest he'd seen. " In Ragtag." she said indicating to the club's name. "You're accepted as whatever you are. No one is weak or strong here. We are just us." Kitsuneme shrugged as he continued.

"But seriously, you're a nerd, man , no wonder I couldn't understand half the things you said. Like what the hell does atrocious mean?" Tsubasa glared as Mikan burst into fits of laughter.

"See, ladies and gentlemen, that-" Kitsuneme pointed at Tsubasa, "-is the reason you should atleast finish high school."

At that point their conversation had got more listeners and a crowd laughed at Kitsuneme's words.

"The truth indeed." Mikan said as she climbed up to bar top and lifted her drink "Raise a cup up people." and when the crowd lifted their drinks to the brunette. "To Ragtag and to the newest addition of our family, Hosshan!"

"To Ragtag and Hosshan." The crowd cheered wildly while Hoshino blushed and looked towards Tsubasa, "Hosshan?"

"Yeah, well Mikan kinda baptized you here, I hope you won't have any problem coz no matter what your name is, everyone ov'r here would know you as Hosshan. Like t's yer name . Actual one." Kitsuneme chuckled as he chugged a shot vodka down his throat.

"Hosshan, huh?" Hoshino muttered, sounds good, I like it. He thought.

"Though, why Ragtag?" Hoshino asked after everyone went home and club had closed down,Mikan who was in her PJ's, she literally slept over at the club, shrugged. "Cause it doesn't have an answer. Does a rag have a price tag? No, yes, maybe, you never know. And this place's like that ya know? It doesn't give you answers just lets you be at home,ya know what I mean, like be you." Mikan said while tying her sneakers.

That night Mikan let him sleep in one of the underground bunkers which lay beneath the club. It was not the mist comfortable of beds but it was sufficient, it made him look forward to the morning light.

"Mikan, you still awake?" Hoshino voiced out.

"Yeah." a distinct voice replied.

"You are a really nice person, I hope you know that."

There was no reply but Hoshino was rest assured that Mikan had heard it and he drifted to sleep.

At the other end , Mikan's lips tugged a smile at the intended compliment. Unconsciously, her hand slipped to wrap itself around the crimson beaded rosary with the silver crucifix hanging at the end.

"Natsume." She muttered unaware of what she was doing and then she made her way to the club and sat by the window.

Mikan was tensed to say the least, she tried figuring his motives, why did he want her back ? What could he possibly get from her?

Mikan steeled her nerves and stared up to the midnight sky, She wasn't going to run away anymore, Come, hail, rain and fury, she wasn't going to budge.

And if he was gonna keep hurting her people like that...

 _Then that bastard was going down on her hands._

* * *

 _There weeks later,_

Mikan found herself riding a bus home, and it was raining for which she secretly wondered if Hoshino was crying or sad, it was almost as if that boy controlled the weather. She laughed at the thought but there was something about rains which made her feel gloomy and sad , it was probably due to this that she was struck by a flashback.

 _Flashback._

The club was originally a restaurant which was basically Mikan Sakura's dad, Izumi Yukihira and Yuka Azumi, his wife's only property, after they died in the car crash.

It had always been under Mikan Sakura's name, but she received complete authority on it until age of 18. But before she even reached that age, she had turned the restaurant into a Club and named it 'Ragtag'.

One fateful night, an encounter had changed everything because that night, Natsume Hyuuga had stepped into Ragtag. He didn't really walk in with that 'I'm gonna blend in' . He stood out. And boy did he stand out.

And coincidentally, Mikan was up for singing at the stage because Tsubasa had bailed out on his dance performance for he 'apparently' had an upset stomach.(Which Mikan cynically questioned cause he was hogging food in the next door ramen shop.)

It was a Friday. And Friday's always had something up and coming in Ragtag. Always. Which was why Mikan was even singing in the first place.

Natsume was tired, he had come over to Ragtag just to let loose, and because it seemed like this place had the best drinks and chicks. Maybe he'd take a random woman home, fuck her senseless until she forgot her own name and remembered nothing but his.

But when he laid his eyes on a certain brunette, singing like no tomorrow, he had to know her,like they were supposed to be together , it was inevitability. He scowled at other men in the club for looking at her the way only he was authorized to. At this point, Natsume realized that he was acting more psychotic than usual.

He didn't even know her name for fuck's sake.

 _Yet_.

Okay now, he was acting really weird which is why he shook his head and looked back at the sexy brunette , as if sensing his gaze , she lifted her head to meet his crimson orbs with her hazel ones.

Mikan hadn't worn anything exposing but then why did she feel so bare before his eyes? But that didn't mean she would back down, oh no, if that man thought she was some submissive lass then he couldn't be more wrong.

She stared back with twice the intensity he had displayed in his stare which irked him. In the good way. First glance and she already held his attention.

He had to meet her.

And that moment onwards fate had begun rewinding its red strings.

 _Flashback ends_

Mikan snapped from her day dream when her stop came, she got out of the bus with a rather heavy feeling in her heart.

Seriously, she ought to stop doing that. Remembering how things went on between Natsume and her should really be forgotten by her, because his fire burnt her petals and it didn't even leave anything for ashes. Plus they were currently on bad terms, it would be ridiculous for her to still think of him in that way.

Again, her hand clenched its fingers around the rosary but this time it didn't go unnoticed by her. It was funny how she hadn't thrown it away considering how she disliked the person who gave it.

Mikan had been out for a few days, to meet a few people and catch up with what was happening in the business, the normal stuff. She had met Koko too, a car mechanic who could always read others minds though she had no clue how he used to do it.

Mikan smiled inwardly as she entered Ragtag. But something hit her, the aura and atmosphere was grim and there was an ominous crowd around the bar. Something was wrong.

"If it's a fucking war he wants. then that's what the bastards gonna get!" said Kitsuneme fuming with anger as Tsubasa tried to hold him back.

 _Scratch that_. Something was _terribly_ wrong.

"Everyone..." Mikan's voice trailed of as she tried to gain their attention, "What's wron-" She stopped mid -way as her eyes grew wide in shock and her jaw dropped while she clasped a hand over her mouth.

In front of her was a sight of Luna in what could be her last night's clothes, beaten up and bruised as purple and blue mars trailed her skin and she was unconscious but that was not all, she had been taped to the wall with ducktape like she was rag doll. Beside her in a very similar condition was Hoshino who was had a busted lip and a black eye, taped to the wall like Luna.

And on the wall in red- unmistakably blood, because Mikan knew the attacker was grim enough to do so- was written-

 _"Come and get us if you can, Sakura."_

That was just an open invitation to a war.

And somehow, looking at Mikan's darkened expression, and the consequence of the silence which was held around her, Tobita Yuu was positive that it was not gonna be pretty.

 _Natsume Hyuuga had gone one step too far this time._

 _ **TBC**_

* * *

The next update would probably be next month on 29th. And also I made a few changes in the chapters, please go through it again.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Sincerely,

The Author.


End file.
